House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisted Thursday the House will pass a bill that includes a government run health care option to compete with private insurers.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Speaker Nancy Pelosi dismissed snags in Senate health care reform negotiations and insisted Thursday the House will pass a bill that includes a government run health care option to compete with private insurers.

"I have every confidence that we will have a public option coming out of the House of Representatives," Pelosi said at her weekly press conference.

Pelosi made it clear that a government run insurance plan is a central piece of the bill being drafted by House Democrats. "I'm saying we will have a public option in the House that will be real. If it's not real, it's no use doing. And if we don't do a public option, I'm not sure that we have as effective a public health care reform as we wished."

Without giving any details on how House Democrats will pay for their plan, the Speaker repeated her commitment that health care reform will not add to the deficit. She downplayed this week's Congressional Budget Office cost estimate of the bill being considered by Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. That estimate showed the cost at $1 trillion and said millions of Americans would remain uninsured. Pelosi said that CBO's estimate applied to a bill that "is a separate subject from what the legislation that we will put forth in the House."

soundoff(43 Responses)

Tax and Spend, Tax and Spend, Tax and Spend, the liberals will never learn.

Nancy keep showing your true colors. It will not be long until you overeach like the republicans and we send you home for good.

June 18, 2009 04:01 pm at 4:01 pm |

mary jo

You go and continue to make me proud as a woman and Democrat!

June 18, 2009 04:01 pm at 4:01 pm |

Pat, CA

reason it out June 18th, 2009 3:28 pm ET
. . . And I assume that, in the name of governmental transparency, we will be given those details in time to have public discussion of the plan before it is voted on by Congress.

We will never have a single payer system in this country. It's impossible to do. Stay off the Fixed News Channel.

June 18, 2009 04:03 pm at 4:03 pm |

dreamer

Yes indeed please allow the puplic to voice their appionons on health care now and forever ide say for it's for them and all of us

June 18, 2009 04:04 pm at 4:04 pm |

Brian in AZ

The CBO estimate is a "SEPERATE SUBJECT"?

Has the botox you've sand-blasted into your face bled all the way through to your skull and poisoned your cognitive capacities, Pelosi? This is like the car salesman who says, "this car's unreasonableprice is a seperate subject–I mean, look, it comes with fuzzy dice."

Well, for a lady who thinks she can accuse the CIA of lying to her and not expect repercussions, I guess this sort of misguided doublespeak is par for the course.

June 18, 2009 04:08 pm at 4:08 pm |

Barb, Canada

I do not understand the people that keeps saying "we cannot afford public health care" .When I see how much money America spends on projects outside of the US and then say they cannot afford to spend on their own citizens it makes my blood boil. I know it is important to help other countries but shouldn't you help the citizen of your own country first? After all the money you are spending is coming from the tax paid by them.
The Republican in public office is okay with government health insurance with it is covering them but they are against it for the rest of the country. If they are so against government health insurance why don't they refuse the one they are currently getting and buy their own from a private company.

June 18, 2009 04:09 pm at 4:09 pm |

Allen

My question is: How much is this going cost the middle class taxpayer ?Seeing that as a legal us citizen we pay for every illegal person in this country healthcare costs. It's sad that as a legal us citizen, that my wife and I have to pay for healthcare for someone, who isn't even in this country legally. What are you going to allow these illegal persons next? Well lets see: they have our jobs, oh and maybe they would like me to hand over my home next. Would that be enough? Geez maybe I should hand over my first born too. No wonder this country is so messed up. We are so busy taking care of other countries problems and not taking care of the legal citizens of this country.

June 18, 2009 04:09 pm at 4:09 pm |

lori

Yes thank you for the option and that's what it is, an option. Pass it already.

June 18, 2009 04:11 pm at 4:11 pm |

Shibumi

If the House Democrats gave specifics of how to pay for this plan, would anyone in the House (or Senate or Bo Bo) even read it before voting for it? History shows not.
It's like someone going to buy a car without knowing what it costs, thinking "I don't care what it costs, I don't have to pay for it".
I wonder if plastic face uses HER credit cards in the same way she spends money that belong to the people.

June 18, 2009 04:11 pm at 4:11 pm |

jimmy combs

I am amazed at the idiocy I see from this puppet Pew-losi. The government ALREADY has a government run health care system in place and it is failing! Its called Medicare! If they are so serious about taking option away from people, then just sign EVERYONE up for Medicare! What's the problem? Its not rocket science, people...

June 18, 2009 04:11 pm at 4:11 pm |

Ralph

I consider myself a liberal and am an avid Obama supporter. However, I must say this: There seems to be an option that is being overlooked. And it's not just health care, its jobs and housing too. This may sound flippant, but think about it; this country has a system that allows anyone, of appropriate age and health, to have a decent paying job, free housing, and free health care for themselves and their families. It's called the military.

June 18, 2009 04:19 pm at 4:19 pm |

Zeb

Wanna fix healthcare? Eliminate lawsuits against doctors. Do you know how much liability insurance costs?

June 18, 2009 04:24 pm at 4:24 pm |

dg houston

pelosi, shove a sock in your mouth and leave it there, a waste of tax money

June 18, 2009 04:27 pm at 4:27 pm |

Earl

To calm all those that are panicking about government single payer program even though it is probably the only way we will overt financial collapse. Single payer should be implemented much like Bush's tax breaks. Have a 8 year length moritorium or so, until it expires then sell it back to the insurance companies to gouge us again. Thus giving the American people an opportunity to measure it's real worth.

June 18, 2009 04:27 pm at 4:27 pm |

haha

how can we beleive what you say you lying liberal (pelosi)

June 18, 2009 04:32 pm at 4:32 pm |

Tom L

I must be reading the wrong Declaration of Independence. It clearly states that you have the right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, a bailout if you are a member of the UAW, education paid for by the govt., a house, "cash for clunkers" and healthcare. My goodness, here I was thinking that in the United States the govt wasn't involved in our daily lives...

June 18, 2009 04:38 pm at 4:38 pm |

Sniffit

@ Proud DHS Radical, who asked "So what happens when you're unemployed, no money coming in and you can't pay your mandatory government heath care premiums?"

Wow. I'll give you guys one thing: you're experts at setting up straw men in an attempt to scare people.